Many of these women are often students who are lured by the promise of quick earnings and who choose to join this industry without pondering too much.

Some universities are trying through campaigns and petitions to counteract advertisements by video chat companies around their campuses to attract female students.

Sabina, a third-year student, decided to join a video chat studio. After seeing numerous advertisements in her town, she researched each company before taking the leap. However, her experience was relatively short-lived.

Sabina: "It was an impulsive decision, not thoroughly thought out. I wouldn't consider going back to it now that I've experienced it. My motivation was primarily financial, coupled with the idea of an illusory independence. In reality, it's quite different. After just two months, I couldn't cope with the demanding schedule. This often included night shifts. To make it worth the effort and the job itself, which is not a pleasant one, you had to work long hours".

Despite the absence of official recognition for video chat as an industry, recent estimates from the National Agency of Fiscal Administration suggest that around 400,000 Romanians are working in this field. Young women are particularly drawn to this field due to the allure of fast earnings, often being promised thousands of euros, homes, cars and even plastic surgery if they wish. Some are even approached around university campuses and online.

Young woman: "Even I have been approached, even friends of mine are constantly approached. I've witnessed numerous dubious propositions in the messages we receive".

Certain video chat companies choose to park cars with attention-grabbing slogans near high schools and universities, using these campaigns to attract potential employees. This practice has raised concerns among educators.

To combat these advertising practices, the University of Civil Engineering in Bucharest initiated a campaign in collaboration with an advertising company. They parked vehicles with promotional slogans near video chat studios for six days, with the message "we build characters".

Cezar Vlăduț, Vice-Rector of the Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest: "The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness among authorities about the inappropriateness of these video chat companies aggressively promoting their services around educational institutions. Through this campaign, we aim to stop this negative advertising. These cars are parked strategically in locations to be noticed by students, as they are the most vulnerable demographic in this context".

While the campaign has garnered extensive online reactions, not everyone agrees with its execution.

Aela Cotabiță, PR Manager of the advertising company: "The objective was not to make comparisons, but to raise an alarm and initiate discussions about more comprehensive regulation of how companies involved in video chat can promote their services".

In another well-known academic hub, Iași, strict measures were put in place.

Silvian Man, Honorary President of the Iași Student League: "We started to publicly address these types of campaigns. The mayor of Iași municipality took the initiative and proposed a decision in the local council to effectively ban such advertisements within our city".

This measure took effect at the beginning of 2020.